Training Max vs. Actual Max: How to Track Both in Your Logbook

Your actual max (true 1RM) is the heaviest weight you can lift for one rep on your best day with perfect conditions. Full rest, good nutrition, peaking, and maybe a little adrenaline. This number represents your ceiling. You might hit it once every few months.

Your training max (TM) is a working number, usually 85-90% of your actual max, that you use to calculate your daily working weights. It represents the weight you can lift any day, even on bad days. Jim Wendler says you should be able to hit your training max for 3-5 solid reps. If you cannot, your TM is too high.

The training max exists because programs built on percentages of a true max tend to prescribe weights that are too heavy too often. A 90% set based on your true max is a grinder. A 90% set based on your training max is heavy but manageable. The difference between these two experiences is the difference between a sustainable program and one that burns you out.

Create a dedicated page in the front of your logbook for both numbers. Use two columns per lift: one for actual max (with the date it was tested or estimated) and one for training max (with the date it was last updated). Always show both numbers side by side.

Example layout: Squat - Actual Max: 405 (tested Jan 15) | Training Max: 345 (set at 85%, updated Mar 1). Bench - Actual Max: 275 (estimated from 255x3) | Training Max: 235 (set at 85%, updated Mar 1).

Update the training max according to your program's rules. In 5/3/1, the TM goes up 5 lbs for upper body and 10 lbs for lower body each cycle. In AtS 2.0, the TM adjusts based on AMRAP performance. In GZCLP, the TM adjusts based on whether you completed the prescribed sets. Your logbook tracks every adjustment with the date.

If you plug your actual max into a percentage-based program, every working set is heavier than it should be. Your 85% day becomes a true 85% instead of the intended 72% (85% of 85%). Your 95% day becomes an actual 95% instead of 81%. You are turning a sustainable program into a constant max-out session.

This mistake shows up in your logbook as missed reps, consistently high RPE (9-10 on every set), and eventual stalls or injuries. If you notice these patterns, check whether you are using your actual max or training max for calculations. Most of the time, resetting the TM to 85% of a true max fixes the problem immediately.

Your logbook makes this diagnosis possible. Without the TM page showing both numbers, you might not realize the error until performance breaks down over multiple weeks.

Update your training max according to your program's schedule. For 5/3/1, that is every 3-4 week cycle. For AtS 2.0, every session. For GZCLP, every failed progression point. These updates are small and incremental.

Update your actual max only when you test it deliberately during a peaking block, a competition, or a structured max-out session. Do not update your actual max every time you hit a heavy single in training. Training singles at high RPE are not the same as a true max attempt with full rest and peak readiness.

Some lifters never test their actual max and instead estimate it from rep performance (e.g., 225x5 estimates a 1RM around 253). This is fine as long as you note it as an estimate in your logbook, not a tested number. Estimates can drift over time and should be recalibrated periodically.